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David Bowman
David Bowman was the Mission Commander of the Discovery 1, as well as the sole survivor of the distaster that occured aboard the ship. In both 2001: A Space Odyssey, and 2010: The Year We Make Contact, he was played by Keir Dullea Biography 2001: A Space Odyssey Dave Bowman was one of the five men aboard the discovery, along with the HAL 9000 a spaceship travelling towards Jupiter. He, along with Frank Poole was one of the only two astronauts not in suspended animation, and neither of them knew about the true purpose of the mission. For much of the mission, things went normally, Bowman and Poole proceeded with their various tasks. However, HAL gradually began to show display errors. He calculated that there was a malfunction in the AE-35 Unit, an important piece of equipment that allows communication with Earth. After Bowman removed the unit and he and Poole examined it, they found that there were no problems. Hal suggested they return the unit and wait for it to fail. Growing uncertain, Poole and Bowman entered an EVA Pod, and shut of the radio, preventing HAL from hearing. They discussed the errors the computer was suddenly developing, and decided the best thing to do was to take the computer's advice. They also realized they may have to disconnect HAL. Bowman sat on the bridge while Poole left the ship to return the unit. He was surprised to suddenly notice Poole drifting into space on one of the exterior cameras. He left the discovery in an EVA Pod and eventually managed to recover Poole's body, though by now it was too late- Poole's oxygen line had been severed, and he was dead by the time Bowman reached him. He nonetheless carried his body to back to the discovery, only to be refused entry by HAL, who revealed that he was aware of the astronauts' plan to disconnect him as he had read their lips through the window of the pod. Bowman decided to enter through the emergency airlock, despite the fact that he was not wearing his helmet. He managed to open the airlock and opened his pod to allow him to jump in. He managed to reach the lever to seal the airlock, allowing air to enter, and Bowman to breathe. Bowman took a space helmet and, despite HAL's pleading, began to move towards the mainframe. He slowly disconnected HAL while ignoring his pleading. HAL began to talk about his life, and told Bowman that one of the first things he was taught was a song, when he asked if Bowman would like to hear it, he agreed. After HAL was finally shut down, Bowman found a recorded message explaining the true purpose of the mission. Bowman spent several months alone on the Discovery. Eventually it reached Jupiter, and Bowman found a large monolith in orbit, which he reported to mission control, as he went to examine it in an EVA Pod. The monolith unexpectedly opened and Bowman entered. His last words to mission control were "My God, it's full of stars". Bowman passed through the Star Gate, a strange passageway that led him to what looked like a hotel room. He was rapidly evolved into the Star Child. 2010 Not much is known for sure about what happened to Bowman after he entered the Star Gate, but it is known that he transformed into the Star Child. He briefly returned to Earth, where he visited his mother, who was dying in the hospital. He also visited his wife, Betty, and talked with her through her television screen. He later returned to Jupiter, where he sent HAL (who had been reactivated during the Leonov mission) a message for Heywood Floyd, saying that they needed to leave Jupiter quickly. When Floyd didn't believe HAL, Bowman appeared in front of him, explaining that they needed to leave quickly before something happens. Ultimately the ''Discovery ''had to be left behind, and Bowman downloaded HAL's consciousness into the monolith.